A Divorce Trial in China

Felix Greene
Felix Greene is an experienced
Anglo-American journalist who
has visited China several times.
This article is a chapter in
Awakened China, his account
of five months of travel in
China in the summer and fall
of 1960.

published by
New England Free Press
791 Tremont St.
Boston, Mass. 02118
10*
 19. A Divorce TrUU
DURING a tour of a heavy machinery plafit in Shenyang,
word reached me that a municipal coutt would be in
session at eleven o'clock. As I had not yet had a chance
to see a court in action, I at once called off the factory
visit and drove back into the city with Mr. Chang Ming-
lun, one of the most eflScient interpreters I ever met. His
ability to give an instantaneous, running translation of
the court proceedings enabled me to transcribe them al-
most verbatim.
We arrived at the court early. I looked around. The
courtroom was a small, rather drab chamber, filled al-
most to capacity by about thirty women. The wooden
floor had been recently scrubbed. Between the benches
for the public and the judge's platform was a long table
covered with a bright-red table-cloth. This was the only
splash of color in the room. Noflags,no slogans, no pic-
196 FELIX GREENE: CHINA
tures, not even of Mao Tse-tung. While we waited for
the judge to appear, I learned from the court secretary
that the case to be heard was a divorce action, and the
presiding judge would be one of the youngest on the
benchonly twenty-three. This particular court, he told
me, heard thirty or forty such suits a year, and a smaller
number of criminal cases. To divulge the exact number
was not permitted. There were only six municipal courts
of this kind in Shenyang, a city of nearly three million.
He told me the court was called in session only when
there was a case to be heard, usually only every ten days
or so.
A woman, whom my mterpreter told me was the court
recorder, entered through a door behind the judge's table
and loudly summoned the public to rise. As we did so,
the judge and the two assessors took their seats on the
platform. One assessor was an elderly, bespectacled man
who might have been a shopkeeper or small business-
man. The other was a buxom woman, a housewife per-
haps, with white ribbons binding her black hair. The
judge himself, in his freshly-pressed cotton work suit,
looked even younger than twenty-three. I should have
taken him for a student. His face was serious. From the
moment he stepped into the court this young man was
in complete control of the proceedings. He looked at us
for a moment and then said:
"Please, everyone sit down."
He remained standing.
"Before this hearing begins," he said, "I wish to tell
the members of the public what the regulations are. They
are simple and I wish them to be strictly obeyed. There
is to be no smoking. Do not clap or shout. Do not fidget.
If any members of the public have questions to ask or
suggestions to make, please do so at the end of the case.
Do not interrupt durmg the hearing."
In addition to the judge, the two assessors, and the
court recorder, another woman had taken a seat on the
far side of the dais. She was to be a witness, I was told.
The judge then said, "Let the man and woman be
brought in."
A young couple entered, side by side, and stood facing
A OrVORCE TRIAL 197
the judge, their backs to the public. On a gesture from
the judge they sat down in two chairs which had been
placed there for them, and remained seated throughout.
The judge asked each in turn for name, age, occupation.
The woman was a teacher, twenty-four years old, her
"cultural level" that of high school graduate. The man
was a doctor, twenty-seven, and a coUege graduate.
The judge then told them:
JUDGE: My name is Tao Wan-yi; the people's assessor
on my right is Liu Shi-ying and on my left Li Shu-Ian.
The recorder's name is Chiang Ming-chin and the
name of the woman's representative is Yie Rung-chin.
She is the principal of the primary school where Chang
Wen-hung works. Your rights are these: you can put
forward your reason, Chang Wen-hung, for wanting
to divorce this man; and then Chang Wei-man will
have the right to tell this court why he opposes di-
vorce. You have the right to call evidence and you
have the right to appeal to the higher court if you
are not satisfied. You have the right to call any friends
you wish to speak for you. You have the right to have
a lawyer if you wish to have one. You also have the
right to read the record of today's hearing at any
time during the next four days, and any members of
the public can read it also. If either of you two have
any reason not to be satisfied with this court, either as
to myself or the two people's assessors, you have the
right to withdraw the case now and take it before an-
other judge and assessors. Have you listened carefully to
what I have said?
(All three say "Yes.")
Have any of you any question as to the membership
of this court?
("No.")
We will then proceed. According to this woman's depo-
sitions she says she wants to divorce this man be-
cause there is no harmony in the home, that they often
quarrel over quite minor things; that they have differ-
ent temperaments and tastes; and because he has a
very bad temper. He says in his deposition that she
\
198 FELDC GREENE: CHINA
pays too much attention to her family and not enough
to him, that she is not tender and very rarely has a
good word for him. He also admits that he has a bad
temper but is trying to correct that. But he opposes the
divorce because he still feels there is a basis of a good
relationship.
That, briefly, is the situation. The law says that when
two people agree in a divorce it is to be granted, pro-
vided adequate provision is made for the protection of
the children's interests. If either party disagrees, then
a hearing must take place before a people's court.
That is the position today.
JUDGE {to the woman): When did you first get to know
your husband?
WOMAN: In 1955.
JUDGE: When did you get married?
WOMAN: In May 1956.
JUDGE: How long did you love him before getting mar-
ried?
WOMAN: For a year. But I didn't get to know him very
well. He talked very well and pretended to be a good
man. He often' asked me to go to the park with him
or to some movies, and kept asking me to marry him.
JUDGE: How about your feelings after you got married?
WOMAN: Not very good. He began to be rude and my
state of mind about him became clearer and clearer.
Since 1958 I have helped him with his work, so that
though the feeling wasn't very good between us, it
was still possible. But his temper got worse and worse,
and he often beat me. I often spoke to him but it had
no effect. We didn't seem to be the same familywe
began to have nothing but quarrels and fights.
WOMAN ASSESSOR: Did he beat you?
WOMAN : Yes, and I couldn't stand his rude ways with me.
His mother always supported him and that made things
worse. We would often quarrel in the middle of the
night. His mother didn't help at all, only made things
worse.
MAN ASSESSOR: Why do you want a divorce now?
WOMAN: The work at my school is very heavy; I just can-
not stand the strain any longer. If ever I come in late
A DrVORCE TRIAL 199
from school he says, "Where have you been? What
have you been up to?" For a long time I felt that
though he beat me and slapped me, things would im-
prove. While he was a medical student at Shenyang
Medical College I helped him with money and other
things and gave him as much as I could.
MAN ASSESSOR: HOW did he treat you while you were
helping him?
WOMAN: Not always very well but much better. His atti-
tude wasn't always patient. But I decided to go on
just as long as I thought the relationship had a chance
of improving. I tried to discuss things with him, espe-
cially about the children, and all he would say was,
"You gave birth to them, they aren't my responsi-
bility!" How can one bear it when one's husband says
that about his children?"
JUDGE: What does he do with the money he earns?
WOMAN: Usually spends it on himself or on his mother, so
1 use my money to keep the children and for food and
so on. I sometimes need books too, so there is often no
money to hand over to him, though he thinks there
should be.
JUDGE: What resources do his parents have?
WOMAN: They have enough to manage onthere's no
need for him to spend money on them.
MAN ASSESSOR: DO you ever have a discussion with him
about how to spend the family money and how to ar-
range the economy of the family?
WOMAN: Oh, yes. Before he graduated we had many dis-
cussions as to how we would budget our money. But
after he graduated these talks annoyed him. Sometimes
when he saw what the children needed he would buy
them something, but usually he left that to me and
paid no attention to the children.
JUDGE: HOW did the quarrels begin? Who started them?
WOMAN: Sometimes he did, sometimes I did by trying to
correct him.
JUDGE: Did you ever strike him?
WOMAN: No.
JUDGE: What did he strike you with?
WOMAN: His hands. Sometimes he would come home at
200 FELIX GREENE: CHINA
midnighta normal man doesn't come back at that
time.
JUDGE: Do you often try to correct him?
WOMAN: Yes, and I asked friends to intervene. . . . Some-
times quarrels would last until midnight and neighbors
would complain.
JUDGE: He said in his deposition that you often swear
and curse at himis that true?
WOMAN: (Part of this reply couldn't be heard.) . . . I was
treated just like a stranger by his mother, who would
also call me names.
JUDGE: Who did the housework?
WOMAN: His mother mostly, because I had to go to school;
but I did all the children's laundry.
JUDGE: Who looked after the children's expenses?
WOMAN: I did.
JUDGE: How many children have you?
WOMAN: Two. One three years old; one, one year,
JUDGE: Are you pregnant now?
WOMAN: NO.
JUDGE: (turning to the man): What about your feelings
towards your wife?
MAN: After our marriage it was very good. We often did
things together, cooked together, and we paid much
care to each other.
JUDGE: Was this because she was supporting you while
you were at college?
MAN: Yes.
JUDGE: How did you treat her?
MAN: Very well. I tried to study well.
JUDGE: Did you put your feelings of kindness into ac-
tions?
MAN: I wasn't much good at looking after the children. At
that time I was living at the college and we would
see each other on Saturdays and Sundays.
JUDGE: Why, after two years, did it get worse?
MAN: I think the trouble was largely because she wasn't
on good terms with my mother. She had a weakness,
too, in that she couldn't stand anything that would dis-
tress her, anything unpleasant. Also we are very dif-
A DIVORCE TRIAL 201
ferent temperamentally. She likes to lead a quiet life,
I like to be active.
JUDGE: She says you often beat heris that true?
MAN: We had frequent quarrels, but I didn't beat her
frequently.
JUDGE: Why did you quarrel so often?
MAN: My irritation and temper. Also she looked down on
me. I'm a doctor, but she would always know best
JUDGE : Do you feel superior to her culturally?
MAN: Yes.
JUDGE (bearing down on him): Don't you know there's
a law that says couples should help each other? If
you thought her cultural level was low you should
have helped her to improve it. You think you are her
cultural superioris that a right way of thinking?
MAN: I think my thinking was wrong. I relied on her for
money and help, but when I got near to graduation I
began to think "I'm better than a mere primary-school
teacher"that, I admit, was wrong.
JUDGE: Who do you think is responsible for the quarrels?
MAN: I think I am, because I asked too much of her.
JUDGE: Has she tried to help you to overcome your
rudeness?
MAN: She has tried to improve me lots of times!
JUDGE: Why didn't you take her help and advice?
MAN: Because of loss of face; I couldn't admit my weak
points.
WOMAN ASSESSOR: Why do you think you would lose face
by accepting her advice?
MAN: Mainly because I looked down on her culturally and
couldn't accept her as an equal.
JUDGE: Why did this aU happen only after your grad-
uation?
MAN: Because then I could support myself.
JUDGE: Is it your lack of feeling for her or her lack of
feeling for you that is the real problem? When she
paid such tender care for you, why were you unable
to respond in the same way?
MAN: Because of my lack of knowledge of how to look
after a family and a wife.
JUDGE: D O you know the marriage law?
202 FELDC GREENE: CHINA
MAN: Yes.
JUDGE: Since you know the marriage law you should
know the husband's obligations towards his wife and
children.
WOMAN ASSESSOR: Was it because you had different opin-
ions that you fought with your wife?
MAN: NO. But because in the past, before liberation, I
often saw my father beat my mother and I was brought
up to think that men should be superior.
JUDGE: When did your father beat your motBer?
MAN: In the old society.
JUDGE: And what does the present law say?
MAN: That men and women are equal. But I still think
the wife should obey the husband.
JUDGE: But don't you know the law?
MAN: I don't think it matters if a man beats his wife^but
he mustn't beat others. In the family it's all right.
JUDGE: What law allows the husband to beat the wife?
MAN: NO law.
JUDGE: What was the reason you beat her the last time?
{Courtroom throughout all this very still. Everyone
listening intently. No interruptions at all.)
MAN : Because she took the children to her mother's with-
out consulting me. I also loved the children and my
mother did too, and we didn't want them to be taken
away.
JUDGE: But isn't it fair for her to see her parents and
take the children there too? Who else did you beat?
MAN: I hit her mother once, but that was quite accidental
a slip of my hand. It happened in a struggle . . . and
also I had had some wine.
JUDGE: On what have you been spending your own
wages?
MAN: Sometimes on myself. I bought a bicycle.
JUDGE: Do you agree to the divorce?
MAN: I think it's been my fault and I think it's quite rea-
sonable of her to ask for a divorce. But I hope she
gives me a chance to correct myself. I'll try my best.
If later on I again fail, then I won't object to the
divorce.
JUDGE: What is your plan for the future?
A DFVORCE TRIAL 203
MAN: I will certainly pay more attention to my wife and
family.
JUDGE {to the woman's representative, the principal of
the school where the teacher worked): Do you want
to say anything?
REPRESENTATIVE: I have made a thorough study of the
case and all its aspects and made many inquiries.
Though love was there at the start, there was never
any real basis of a good relationship. He used fine
words to start with.
You cannot see the realities of this marriage on the
surface. The marriage on this basis cannot be con-
solidated. I believe the main trouble has been the
man. The law says that marriage should be based on
free-will and equality. Everyone has the right to free-
dom and to social life and a mutual life of shared ob-
ligations, and the shared duty to look after the chil-
dren. But instead this man beat hereven when she
was pregnant. As a doctor he should know very weU
that is a time when special care should be takenand
that is why she began to lose her health.
Bad treatmentthose are the grounds for this ap-
plication for divorce. This man has no real feelings
for this woman and his actions show it. He has often
promised to change, but hasn't. He often apologized
but never changed. It is his feudal background that
makes him treat his wife as an object to be possessed
it is a bourgeois view to look down on a wife as he
has done. While he was dependent on her help, he
never showed his real nature, but when he became
independent his real attitude showed itselfa univer-
sity graduate looking down on a mere primary school
teacher! No real relationship can ever be built on an-
other's pains. When he says he doesn't know how to
look after children he's only lying. Fancy! a doctor
saying he doesn't know how to look after children!
And the only reason why he doesn't want a divorce
now is because of public opinion!
JUDGF: Anything more?
WOMAN: No.
JUDGE: Anything moie?

204 F E L K GREENE: CHINA
MAN: NO.
JUDGE: H a v e a n y o f y o u a n y t h i n g t o s a y a b o u t t h e r e p -
r e s e n t a t i v e ' s s t a t e m e n t ? (to the woman) J u s t n o w y o u r
husband said h e w o u l d like t o correct himself a n d
pay tender regard f o r y o u a n d t h echildren. W h a t d o
you s a y t o this?
WOMAN: I t i s n o t t h e first t i m e h e h a s s a i d t h i s . H e w i l l
be q u i t e d i f f e r e n t as s o o n as h e gets b a c k h o m e . O n e
m o m e n t h e says t h a t h e l o o k s d o w n o n m e , t h e next
h e s a y s h e w i l l b e k i n d t o m e . I a m firm. M y m i n d i s
m a d e u p . I f this court does n o t grant m e a divorce, I
will take i t t o a higher court.
JUDGE (to the man): W h a t d o y o u say t o that?
T h e m a n w a s s t r u g g l i n g t o fitnd w o r d s . T h e j u d g e
leaned f o r w a r d , w a i t i n g . F i n a l l y t h e m a n began t o speak.
H e w a s l o o k i n g straight ahead, over t h e head o f t h e
judge, b u t seemed really t o b e addressing h i s wife.
MAN: I k n o w t h e b a s i s o f o u r l i f e h a s n o t b e e n g o o d . I
have n o t been a good husband, n o r a good father. B u t
m a n y people have educated m e a n d today I have
really w o k e n u p . I k n o w i n t h e past I have heard a l l
these things, b u t I d i d n ' t ever realize t h e m as I d o
today. I have loved y o u , b u tI have neglected y o u . I
have reaUy loved y o u . W e have t w o children a n d I
n o w really c o m m i t m y s e l f t o l o o k after y o u a n d o u r
two children. I k n o w I have said this before, b u t t o -
day i t is true.
T h i s is t h e last t i m e , a n d i n f r o n t o fs o m a n y people,
I tell y o u that y o u c a n trust m e a n d I a m asking y o u
to give m e o n e m o r e opportunity. L e tus t r y once
m o r e t o n>alce a h a p p y h o m e a n d i n t h i s w a y t o c o n -
tribute t o o u r society. I still believe w e c a n m a k e a
happy h o m e f o r ourselves a n d t h e children. I w i U take
tender care o f y o u . I w i l l never again t h i n k , as I
have done i n m y bourgeois w a y , that the m a n is m o r e
important t h a n t h e w o m a n . I n o w see that is nothing
but a feudal attitude w h i c h I have n o t shed f r o m m y
past.
A DIVORCE TRIAL 205
jxnoGE {to the woman): W h a t d o y o u t h i n k o f g i v i n g
him another opportunity?
iVOMAN: I t ' s n o t t r u e t h a t o u r r e l a t i o n s h i p w a s e v e r a l l
right. H e h a s said a l lthis before. H e s o o f t e n goes
back o n his words. . . .
MAN (^breaking in, his eyes still straight ahead): P l e a s e
. . . please.
T h e r o o m w a s absolutely silent a n d a l l eyes w e r e
fixed u p o n t h e w o m a n . W e c o u l d n o t s e e h e r f a c e , b u t
f r o m t h e set o f h e r shoulders, a n dt h e bitterness o f h e r
previous words, I felt certain h e r answer w o u l d b e n o .
T h e judge also h a d been w a t c h i n g h e r closely a n d at t h e
v e r y m o m e n t she started t o speak, h e rose t o h i s feet, i n -
t e r r u p t i n g h e r . A superb piece o ft i m i n g . H e said, " T h e r e
w i l l b e a r e c e s s f o r fifteen m i n u t e s f o r t h i s m a n a n d
woman t o talk things over i n private. T h e n I a s k that
t h e y come t o see m e personally. T h e court is recessed."
W e waited f o r half a n hour o r forty minutes. Some o f
t h e people w e n t o u t t o s m o k e a n d t a l k o n t h e steps. T h e
c o u r t secretary, as b e f o r e , a n n o u n c e d t h e court's reassem-
bly. T h e judge, t h e assessors, t h e secretary, t h e w o m a n ' s
representative came i n ; then t h e m a n a n d w o m a n . T h e
w o m a n h a dbeen crying a n d w a s twisting h e r handker-
chief i n h e r hand.
J U D G E (standing): P l e a s e s i t d o w n . T h e c o u r t i s a g a i n
i n session.
C h a n g W e n - h u n g , schoolteacher, a n d C h a n g W e i -
man, doctor, have h a d a n opportunity t o talk together
while the court was adjourned and they have informed
us o f the discussion.
C h a n g W e i - m a n h a s declared several times this
morning his determination t o improve his behavior t o -
w a r d s h i s w i f e , a n d s h eh a s t o l d u s t h a t she agrees t o
give this marriage o n e m o r e chance, b u t o n l y o n o n e
c o n d i t i o n . T h e c o n d i t i o n i s t l i a t i f s h e finds t h a t h i s
b e h a v i o r d o e s n o t i m p r o v e a n d t J i a t s h e frih: i t nccf s-
s a r y t o a p p l y f o r a d i v o r c e a g a i n , h e r h u s b a n d will n o t
o p p o s e h e r . I n t h a t cnrc t h e d i v o r c e w o u l d b e g r a n t e d
206 FELIX GREENE: CHINA
The man and woman, without looking at anyone, the
without a court hearing. The court will now make its man with slightly averted face, left by the public door.
declaration, The audience rose and we drifted slowly outside.
As the judge said this, the two assessors and the As I went through the outer lobby to the street I saw
court recorder also rose and stood while the judge the judge, a policeman, and some of the people who
gave the finding of the court. had been watching in the courtroom, lighting cigarettes
This court declares that since Chang Wei-man has and chatting together.
criticized himself in publ'c here today and since his
wife is ready to give him another chance, her applica-
tion for a divorce should b 3 considered withdrawn on
the condition she has m-^de. The two people should
now try to make every effort to consolidate their re- 20. Prison: Bad and Good
lationship in affection rnd understanding.
MAN: I should like to thank the judge and the assessors and
all the comrades present who have consistently advised
me.
J U D G E (to the man): The court wishes to address these
words to you. I think you have many problems which
you must th-nk over, many difficulties you have with
your own character, especially your bad temper. You
have shown a bourgeois attitude and this you must
do your best to eradicate. You are hereby formally
reprimanded by this court. We charge you to do your
utmost to correct your behavior and erroneous atti-
tudes and we charge you to see that you carry out
in your actions what you have promised here in open
court this morning, (more gently) You are a doctor.
As a doctor in a socialist state you have a great re-
sponsibility. Try in future to conduct yourself so that
you can lead a happy fam ly life with your wife and
two children, and this will also help your country and
comrades. While we reprimand you, we want you to
know that we understand how difficult it is to shed old
attitudes. Our whole country is in the process of chang-
ing from one set of values to another. That is a very
difficuh task. Changes of attitude can only come when
we consciously become aware of the old values which
have to be eradicated. We understand the difficulties,
and ask you to do your best, (to all of us) The court
is now over. After we have left we wish the publ'c to
remain seated until Chang Wei-man and Chang Wen-
hung have left the courtroom.